Batavia council hesitant to cut their pay

Members voted against freezing mayor's pay, reducing their compensation, but will revisit issue soon

October 19, 2012|By Alexa Aguilar, Special to the Tribune

It was supposed to be a symbolic gesture of belt-tightening, but Batavia City Council members couldn't agree that cutting their own pay 10 percent was a good idea.

After rejecting the pay cut in a 8 to 5 vote, the council voted this week to send it back to committee.

The city council reviews compensation every four years for the mayor, city clerk and aldermen. Seven of the 14 council members are up for election in April, and currently are paid $200 for each of the 24 city council meetings they attend per year. They are not paid to attend committee meetings.

Alderman Jim Volk had suggested freezing the mayor's salary and reducing pay for aldermen to $180 per meeting. Mayor Jeffery Schielke, who has not announced whether he is running for re-election, is paid by the hour and can't exceed $2,605 a month.

"This is a symbolic gesture," Volk said before the meeting. "When you look at the hours we put in, I'd make more delivering pizzas ... no one does this for the money.

"It's an acknowledgment by the council that there are still a lot of people struggling out there and it tells folks we're serious about cost cutting."

Alderman Dave Brown said if the council wanted to save dollars, it could easily look in other areas.

"In the scope of everything, it's peanuts," Brown said. "I just don't see the point."

Alderman Alan Wolff said council members have expenses, such as Internet connection fees and paper, and that the compensation helps with those.

After the pay-cut motion lost, Volk immediately proposed that aldermen not be paid at all. Only he and Alderman Robert Liva voted yes.

City staff looked at compensation rates of council members in surrounding communities and found Geneva's rate is $150 per meeting while St. Charles pays $175.

In a memo to aldermen, city administrator Bill McGrath wrote that "with or without the suggested changes to compensation for the mayor or council, the range is reasonably related to those in the area."

The issue will be discussed again at the government services committee meeting on Oct. 22.